COPENHAGEN, Aug 12 Danish jewellery retailer
Pandora hopes a new alliance with Walt Disney
Company will boost sales as soon as next year, Pandora
CEO Allan Leighton said after unveiling a jump in profits.

Pandora's shares rose more than nine percent after the
company reported a 69 percent increase in second-quarter core
profit and unveiled the Disney deal, part of its strategy to
expand further in the United States.

"It's a 10-year alliance, and is a very important thing for
us. It reflects on how the brand is perceived. Disney does not
perform strategic alliances with just anyone, and we are very
proud to be associated with Disney," Leighton told Reuters.

The Disney agreement gives Pandora access to its popular
resorts and extends the company's footprint in the United States
- a core growth market for the company, according to analysts.

Pandora's second-quarter revenue was 2.5 billion Danish
Crowns ($447.8 million) and the Americas led the way with 1.097
billion out of the total, followed by Europe on 1.064 billion.

While revenue in Europe jumped 65 percent from a year
earlier, it only increased five percent in the Americas.

"Disney is definitely an opportunity to drive some more
revenue in the U.S., and we are doing it to increase our sales,"
Leighton said, adding he hoped to see the impact on next year's
revenue, without being able to elaborate on the range.

One of Pandora's main sellers in the United States has been
its charms. The company will now work with Disney to produce a
new range of charms, including beloved Disney figures such as
Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, to go on sale in November.

"The agreement with Disney is very interesting. It is a
platform from which the Pandora brand could be spread and has
the possibility of reaching a much younger client," said analyst
Soren Lontoft at Sydbank.

"The United States is the largest single market for Pandora,
and there are still a lot of opportunities to grow in this
market," he said.

The company also announced it would buy 27 Pandora-branded
stores from U.S. jeweller Hannoush, adding to the 369 concept
stores it has in the Americas as a whole.

Pandora raised its 2014 revenue outlook to more than 11
billion Danish crowns from 10.5 billion, although it kept its
EBITDA margin target unchanged at 35 percent. At 1318 GMT
Pandora shares were 7.5 percent higher.

Core earnings (EBITDA) rose to 893 million Danish crowns in
the second quarter, higher than an average forecast of 786
million Danish crowns in a Reuters poll.

Leighton declined to comment on a lawsuit launched last
month by 36 shareholders. They are seeking compensation because,
they say, they lost money in 2011 because Pandora announced a
profit warning too late.

The warning sent Pandora's shares down 65 percent in August
2011. Leighton, who was chairman at the time, was also sued.

Pandora's shares slumped after news of the investor lawsuit
was made public at the end of July and Tuesday's jump returns
them to levels last seen on July 23.

BERLIN, Dec 9 Germany's BGA trade association
said on Friday it would lower its 2016 growth forecast for
exports to a "mini plus" from a previously projected 2 percent,
hours after trade data showed exports rose less than expected in
October.

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